EMBRACING MEMORIAL DAY TRADITION 
The holiday weekend is off to a soggy start — and Swamplot is off to higher ground. Meet us back here on Tuesday with your hottest tips and snappiest photos, and we’ll wade back into the usual coverage of all things Houston real-estate. ‘Til then, have a great weekend, and stay dry! (Or don’t. Whatever helps you relax.) Photo of Clear Brook Meadows yard: Peggy Pfister
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- 1116 Allston St. [HAR]
NEED SOME HELP WITH THOSE 268,942 MAPPED HOUSTON PARKING TICKETS? 
Amateur parking violation scrutinizer Jordan Poles has another new tool for those interested in the where- and when-abouts of parking citations in Houston. Each ticket from the same data set used in Poles’s earlier heat maps is now mapped individually (though thick clusters condense to single group markers at most zoom levels, since there are hundreds of thousands of tickets in the 2014-2016 dataset he uses). So far, the page lets users filter the tickets by time of day (sliders allow any hour-to-hour subdivision of a midnight-to-midnight window) and day of week (running Monday-through-Sunday); Poles plans to keep upgrading the site and to add new analytical features and datasets. [Previously on Swamplot] Image: HOU Interactive Parking Ticket Map
The final episode of Simpsons-themed mural antics at the corner of Polk and St. Emanuel streets appears to have played out, now that the exterior walls of The Secret Group’s in-progress venue have gone dark on their way toward looking something like the shadowy rendering above. The transformation appears to have a deadline: the group has started selling tickets to shows at the new venue, with the first one set for June 22nd.
The space, at the Polk end of the developing 2-block East Village retail spot, will function as a full time bar in addition to hosting regular comedy and music performances. The rendering from MÄk Studio appears to show a rooftop patio; the venue doesn’t currently plan to serve food, but that could change.
- About [The Secret Group]
- Previously on Swamplot: Houston’s Own ‘East Village’ Planned Next to 8th Wonder Brewery in East Downtown; Catching Up on the Simpsons-Themed Antics Outside of The Secret Group on Polk St.; Graffiti Update Brings Cartoonish Tagger of Future Secret Group Comedy Venue to Justice; Secret Group Planning Comedy, Music, Party Venue in Not So Secret East Downtown Building
Rendering: mÄk studio
East Downtown
BRYAN POLICE: PLEASE STOP DRIVING INTO FLOODWATER SO WE CAN WORK ON TORNADO PROBLEMS 
Dozens of roads are still closed this morning following yesterday’s heavy storms to the north and west. The National Weather Service reports that the nearly 17 inches of rain measured over 24 hours at its Brenham station would by itself beat the total for the 3rd-wettest month on station record (and fall less than an inch short of second place). Bryan-College Station’s The Eagle reported yesterday that the Bryan Police Department was urging drivers to stay off the roads, as first responders were getting tied up with sinking vehicle calls while also trying to respond to calls related to the tornado that touched down near Highway 6 and Briarcrest Dr. At least 50 houses were reported damaged and 3 destroyed; other possible tornado-related incidents reported in the area include damage to the Miramont Country Club and to the Wallace Pack Unit prison in Navasota. [National Weather Service, The Eagle] Map of road closures: TxDOT
- Prime Asset Management Secures Unprecedented $450M in Financing for JPMorgan Chase Tower, Chase Center [Houston Chronicle]
- Giant Retail Project Valley Ranch Town Center Going Up North of Kingwood Lands Hobby Lobby [Houston Chronicle]
- Heights Central Station Strip Mall Project Just Following Houston Orders [Purple City; previously on Swamplot]
- Canadian Hockey Player Turned Reef Chef Ryan Lachaine To Head Riel in Former House of Te Location on Fairview [Houston Chronicle; previously on Swamplot]
- Few ExxonMobil Employees Actually Buying in Stillwater Residential Community Built Near Exxon Campus [HBJ]
- Auto and Mortgage Loan Delinquencies on the Rise in Oil-Dependent Counties, Finds New York Fed [Houston Chronicle]
- Lack of Coordination Among Agencies One of Houston’s Biggest Roadblocks To Addressing Flooding, Says Flood Czar [Next City]
- Houston Ranks Low on ParkScore But Is Improving City with Buffalo Bayou Park, Trails [New York Times]
- Quiz: How Well Do You Know Houston’s Iconic Logos? [Houstonia]
Photo of Washington Ave: Marc Longoria via Swamplot Flickr Pool
Headlines
Swamplot’s Daily Demolition Report lists buildings that received City of Houston demolition permits the previous weekday.
We have a few houses and counterparts just in before the holiday weekend.
- 33226 Magnolia Cir. [HAR]
From a largely-barren expanse of surface lot west of Toyota Center, a reader sends a few fresh images snapped during a street-level fly-by of the 1930s office building at the corner of Leeland and Caroline streets, where Texas Direct Auto has recently taken up both residence and a new advertising tack. Following in the wake of a previous foray into Downtown real-estate-billboard crossover, the company’s newest mural encompasses 3 of the 4 sides of the building (including the dog in an astronaut suit on the side opposite Leeland). Painting started in January, and a we’re-done-now party was thrown in early April.Â
As was the case for the company’s red-tagged Main St. doggie-in-the-window signage, the newer mural incorporates some of the structure’s actual windows into the design — this time as a set of questionable-utility solar panel arrays on an artificial astronaut habitat:
Leeland at Caroline
COMMENT OF THE DAY: LINGERING FEARS OF BEING GRAZED BY A BULLET TRAIN 
“The railroad needs to make 2 major cases: first, that those tinkertoy power stanchions won’t be any uglier than the high-tension lines that are already there on most of their route; and more importantly, that the disturbance from passing trains won’t impair cattle production nearby. I seem to recall that ‘it’ll scare the cows’ was the final nail in the coffin of the previous Texas Triangle HSR attempt. Once they have official eminent domain authority, there will be no stopping this project.” [, commenting on Bullet Train Backers: Not Trying To Take Any Land Yet, Just Want To Know How Much We’d Owe You]
The Panera marker previously spotted all by its lonesome in the leasing flier for Braun Enterprises’ redevelopment of 1705 W. Gray has picked up a companion in the form of the Kriser’s Natural Pet logo. The marker for the grain-averse pet supply and grooming store now appears on the freestanding former home of International Hair Salon & Nail Spa (shown above), previously marked up in Braun’s renderings as a possible coffee shop.Â
The reader who snagged the shot above also spent some time sniffing around the back and sides of the complex (to be known as the River Oaks Collection). The wall in the shot below is starting to get its coat of grey paint cleaned off to match the mottled brick exterior shown in the redo renderings:
River Oaks Collecting
Sponsoring Swamplot for today: The house at 2629 University Blvd. in West University. Thanks for the support!
Here’s a home that’s just down the street from the Rice Village — not quite a block deep on the West U side of Kirby Dr. What else stands out about it? Well, in a good rainstorm you should notice the standing-seam metal roof. And rain or shine, sitting in the breakfast room, it’s hard to ignore the 660-bottle climate-controlled wine-storage setup. (Look for the photo on the property website.) Unless, of course, from the table you’re focusing your attention on the covered patio on the other side of the triple window.
The 4-bedroom, 3-1/2-bath home dates to 2000. Granite countertops, slate floors, and stainless-steel appliances from Sub-Zero, Thermador, and Bosch round out the kitchen (see photo above). The family room, shown in the top photo, opens onto the back yard. The second-story master bedroom has a vaulted ceiling.
More views — and information about the 2-story, 3,401-sq.-ft. home — are available on the property website. It’s listed for sale by New Leaf Real Estate, which offers unique savings programs for both sellers and buyers.
Maybe you’ve been giving your home a lot of attention — but other people haven’t. Put it in the spotlight with a Swamplot sponsorship.
Sponsor of the Day
Evidently none of these facades will appear on the Jessamine St. entrance of the new police and municipal court building planned for Bellaire’s Town Square. The latest design, as presented at last week’s town hall meeting, appears to be a blend of several of the choices above. Architect PGAL put together a set of possibilities earlier this spring for both a new police building and a planned city hall redo; a committee spent the last few months choosing the parts they liked.
The approximate sites of the police station and the new city hall appear in gold on the conceptual site plan below, showing the S. Rice Ave. land bounded by Jessamine, 5th St., and the houses south of Linden St.:
Reshaping Town Square
- French Restaurant Brasserie du Parc Slated To Open in Downtown’s One Park Place This Fall [Culturemap]
- The Barvin Group Has Acquired Memorial Towers and The Grove at White Oak Apartment Complexes [HBJ]
- H-E-B Confirms It’s Working with Political Consulting Firm To Change Heights Dry Law [Houston Chronicle; previously on Swamplot]
- Renters Need To Earn $18.23 Working Full Time To Afford a 2-Bedroom Apartment in Houston, Finds Report [Houston Chronicle]
- What the Evolution of 2 Frank Sharp Developments Says About Houston [The Urban Edge]
- Metro Launching New Manchester/Lawndale Route This Summer To Serve East Houston [Houston Public Media]
- Is Houston’s Pothole Repair Program Really Working? [Click2Houston]
Photo of Elan Heights: Marc Longoria via Swamplot Flickr Pool
Headlines
Swamplot’s Daily Demolition Report lists buildings that received City of Houston demolition permits the previous weekday.
A few glamorous remnants left in the soon to be cleared S. Post Oak Lane house, plus several other odds and ends to clean up around town in today’s report.
